TRACHEA TA 



343 



which are apparently functionless. The neuters may be 

 workers with small rounded heads, or soldiers with greatly 

 enlarged heads and most formidable mandibles. 



Fio. 194.- 

 A. Winged male. 



-White Ant {Termes bellicosus). 

 B. Soldier. 



C. Queen. 



The communities live as a rule underground ; some species 

 construct nests of such size and strength as to serve as watch- 

 towers for the big game of South Africa. These nests are 12 

 to 15 feet in height. Others live on tree-trunks, etc., and 

 cover the branches with little tunnels built of pellicles of clay 

 which they bring up from below, and line with excrement. 

 They invariably work in the dark, building the tunnels from 

 the inside ; if anything breaks down part of their work, the 

 workers disappear, and the powerful " soldiers " take their place 

 and defend their home. 



Those of the larvae which are not destined to become 

 workers or soldiers acquire wings, and a few weeks afterwards 

 they leave the nest, and pair whilst flying in the air. They 

 then fall to the ground and lose their wings ; in this condition 

 a number of them perish, but some of them, guided by a few 



